Our Distance & That Person
by yue kato
Summary: He surveyed all that was before him, and saw only emptiness. Sasuke POV. Yaoi implied.


**Title: Our Distance & That Person**  
Author: yue kato  
Written: 110606  
Pairing: SasuNaru (implied)  
Rating: PG-13  
**_Warnings: Spoilers for chapters 307-309 of the manga  
_**Notes: The chinese lyrics that appear are from Penny Dai's (戴佩妮) beautiful song 水中央 (Middle of the Water), which was the catalyst for this. It's not necessary to understand them to get what I'm trying to convey.  
Summary: He surveyed all that was before him, and all he saw was emptiness.

_明明知道不可能却硬硬要把我留住_

I feel your unique chakra signature, faltering but still unmistakeable, before I see you emerge from the mouth of the tunnel. My senses still catalogue all the incoming information about my surroundings -- courtesy of the Sharingan, augmented by Orochimaru's seal, I no longer 'switch off' even when I'm asleep. Yet gazing down at your golden head, at the face that still sometimes haunts nightmares, everything else gets relegated to the background.

The mild inquisitiveness at Sakura's presence; the flicker of annoyance at the arrogance of the boy assassin in believing he could capture or kill me -- all that disappears under the onslaught of your fiery blue glare.

For a moment, it feels like Mangekyo has me in thrall again, and I'm standing on the stone cliff in front of rushing water, staring into eyes filled with confusion and anguished betrayal. It's as if I'm once again plunged into the waterfall, as the rage and frustration I thought had dissipated with the growth of my power blossomed once more, threatening to engulf me.

_明明知道死了心还一再对爱的贪图_

Dobe...

You truly are an idiot. You still don't understand that this is all necessary. That it is a sacrifice that was required of me.

I can see it throughout your entire being -- I do not even need the Sharingan to tell me that. The stench of hope rises off you, the cloying odour of self-delusion. And it's not only you, I can sense it in the other three as well, only with them, it is tempered with cynicism, a touch of despair. Not all of them believe, very realistically on their part, that I will actually go with you, at least not without a battle.

I feel the insidious burn of the curse seal flaring, activated by my simmering anger, but I force it down. The seal no longer controls me. Orochimaru has taught me how to be its wielder.

Absently I wonder what you believe will happen to me if I actually do return to Konoha. With your incredibly immense talent at lying to yourself, you probably thinks we would carry on where we left off -- no questions, no repercussions, happily ever after.

It's pathetic, and I almost pity you for still labouring under these illusions.

_说好让我飞却又把我困住 你占有不代表你拥有全部_

Maybe I ought to spare you from this suffering. You should have recognised that we ended back then, when I left you with my hitae-ate and my kiss, never looking back.

As usual, I overestimated you. And I should now rectify that error. I had assumed then that I didn't need to kill you, because unlike Itachi, I don't have to slaughter every living thing I come into contact with just to sever my connection with it.

But I overlooked one thing -- I may have been able to walk away from the bond that we shared, but you aren't as strong. Which is why you are standing in front of me now, living proof of my mistake... all my mistakes. In which case... when one does something wrong, the best course of action, obviously, is to take immediate steps to eradicate that oversight of judgement.

I'm in front of you before anyone expects it, our chests barely touching, and I can see your chakra waver, exactly the way it used to in response to my proximity. My arm slung across your shoulder is a parody of the embraces we used to share, but your face flushes as if it were real nonetheless, your lower lip still tremoring. It appears that you are almost of a height with me, yet your slightly trembling frame is still scant millimetres shorter. Even in this, you have yet to surpass me.

_说好要结束却一再的反复 能不能到此为止各走各的路_

You will never become Hokage. You got distracted from your goal.

It is why you are still so weak now. You've lost sight of what you truly need to do. And because of that, you will forever be entangled in the petty shackles of regret and 'what-if's, your focus and drive dissipated.

It's just too bad, dobe. You could have been so strong.

I was distracted before, but I've steered myself back on track. Onto the path I'm supposed to tread -- the fate of an avenger. I've amassed power beyond anything I could have achieved by myself in Konoha, with you beside me. Instead, Orochimaru is the one who stands with me, and together, there will come the day when the avenger in me fulfils his destiny.

I should spare you the heartbreak of drowning in the shards of your broken dreams. For the sake of what we once had, I will bequeath you this one kindness.

The metallic rasp of Kusanagi slowly leaving its sheathe is a delicate counterpoint to your rapid, shallow pants as you steels yourself to accept my final gift.

But for a moment, your softly whispered words give me pause. There is a shade of despair in your voice that I've never heard before. I feel the tiny sag of your body against mine, as if the fight has gone out of you.

...Good, you have finally seen the light.

For you, I will make it clean. Swift and painless.

_爱飘向水中央恣意的游荡 风若没有方向 就不要阻挡它的去向_

Again, the audacious boy stops me. I have to admit, he is a capable shinobi. An entirely effective killer, if he were not up against me. And if he were not sidetracked from his true purpose.

Evoking a similar idiocy in others - it appears to be your singular ability.

The jounin is rather competent as well, but unfortunately hampered by Sakura, another liability that I've thankfully shed myself of, long before I let go of... you.

This drama is becoming tiresome, and I decide it's time to give you and your companions a proper demonstration of what I have become.

As ever, you still have a little trick up your sleeve. And finally, the source of you inexplicable power is revealed to me. I suddenly understand why Itachi desires to capture you so.

The Kyuubi Youko... All that power, trapped in a frail shell of mortal flesh. An insufferable, contemptuous beast that dares to presume he knows me, comparing me to what came before. It is ancient being, but fifteen years in a human vessel, especially one of such an unwise calibre, has blunted its perceptions.

I am _nothing_ like anyone else.

And to prove it, I release the check I hold on the curse seal, allowing the force of my chakra to surge through unmitigated.

As the Kyuubi dissolves back behind the bars of the seal imprisoning it, I see it for what it is, a weakened creature, reduced to making empty threats.

_我飘向水中央自由的游荡 你若没有方向 就不要控制我的去向_

Just like all the rest of you, I realise as I leap back up the cliff face to avoid the jounin's jutsu.

You and the others are all vacuous souls, devoid of any true purpose, lacking in the drive or motivation to strive for what really matters. The only things you know how to express are empty pleas and meaningless actions.

I get the urge to obliterate all of you -- hollow vessels every one -- but Orochimaru believes you may still serve some function, so for the time being, I shall stay my hand.

Out of pity.

Yes, all I feel when I look at you now is pity. You are still the same pathetic, weak loser, still hung up over petty, pointless concerns.

I keep my eyes locked to yours as Kabuto activates the jutsu to teleport us away, and I make a decision. Itachi can't have you, nor Akatsuki. They are corrupt, only garnering more power for power's sake. All they can offer you is a purposeless death.

Only I can give you what you deserve. When I kill you and gain control over the Kyuubi, I will be able to channel its power into defeating Itachi. In death, you will have achieved something more meaningful than anything you ever did in your short, senseless life.

Soon, Naruto, you won't have to suffer much longer.

That is my promise to you.

_owari_


End file.
